Please allow me to refer you to the article below on the challenges with international recognition and enforcement of mortgages on ships:

Having practised both as a shipping lawyer and an aviation lawyer for many years, I do find the experience and practice with the Cape Town Convention and aviation finance transactions to be interesting when experiencing the challenges faced by the shipping industry with respect to recognition and enforcement of mortgages. The shipping industry does not have a global legal regime governing these issues in the same way as the aviation industry, and when looking at the OSX-3 matter from last year, where the Brazilian courts have set aside the Liberian first priority mortgage, the need for a global legal regime becomes quite evident.

The fact that the shipping world is yet to adopt an international legal scheme governing recognition and enforcement of rights in ships and offshore units is complicating the financing of such objects, and the mentioned court case in Brazil has cast a shadow over the Brazilian offshore sector which should trouble the international banking community. In this brief article I would like to discuss a little more in detail the challenges caused by the Brazilian judgment and how these challenges could be solved by looking towards the aviation finance sector and the Cape Town Convention.

You can read the full analysis of the solutions offered by the Cape Town Convention and the aviation finance sector here:https://goo.gl/izpyY5.